KARACHI - Four people, among them an activist of the Awami National Party (ANP) and a journalist, were gunned down in the ongoing violence in the metropolis on Thursday.

ANP’s Old Sabzi Mandi ward vice-president was shot dead near Numaish Chowrangi within the remit of the Soldier Bazaar Police Station. Identified as Taj Muhammad, 32, the victim was heading some where on his motorbike, when a bike-borne armed duo targeted him. The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi and later handed over to the heirs. Following the killing, tension simmered in Old Subzi Mandi area and its surroundings, including Esa Nagri, where unidentified gunmen resorted to aerial firing, forcing a closure of commercial as well as non-commercial activities.
In another similar incident, some unidentified assailants opened fire at a hotel located in Nazimabad 2, injuring two office bearers of ANP who were rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where they succumbed to injuries.
The deceased were identified as Fazal Kareem and Malang Khan. Later following the incident, angry mob torched a motorcycle and tyres on the roads in Nazimabad and markets, shops and business centres in the area were closed.  
Separately, a managing director of a local newspaper was killed in a targeted attack within the precincts of the Chakiwara Police Station. According to police officials, the victim, Malik Tariq Noor, was on his way back home when unidentified gunmen, riding a motorbike, opened fire on him near Bihar Colony.
The deceased was younger brother of the owner of the Malik Publications. The officials suspected that Lyari gangsters might have killed the journalist.
Separately, a woman, namely Asma Sehzad, 38, succumbed to her gunshot wounds at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital following an armed attack on a motorcycle-rickshaw which she was traveling by along with 32-year-old Farhat Bano. Unidentified gunmen, riding a motorbike, opened fire at the motorcycle-rickshaw and fled. Farhat Bano also sustained bullet wounds. The motive behind the attack on the two women could not be ascertained.
Meanwhile, a bullet-riddled body was recovered from Usmanabad area within the remit of the Mangopir Police Station. The victim, identified as Imdad Qadir, had left home for Sehwan Sharif to participate in the annual urs celebrations of Lal Shahbaz Qalandhar. The body was handed over to the heirs after autopsy.
ONE KILLED, 17 INJURED IN CYCLE BOMB ATTACK: A man was killed while 17 others sustained injuries in bicycle bomb explosion at a bus stop near Hub Chowki in the limits of Saeedabad police station on Wednesday.
According to police, the bomb was fitted in a bicycle parked at a bus stop and exploded as the bus carrying employees of Suparco reached there.
As a result, a passerby identified as Ansar Khan was killed on the spot while 17 others including passengers of the bus sustained injuries.
Police investigator suspects that Suparco’s bus was the target of the attack. The body and the injured were shifted to Civil and other hospitals. Further investigation is underway and several arrests were also made.